from Kid's Gasoline, April 2008
Gasoline Use Contributes to Air and Water Pollution
Burning gasoline produces carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas. Scientists know with virtual certainty that increasing greenhouse gas concentrations tend to warm the planet.1
Gasoline is a highly flammable and toxic liquid. The vapors given off when it evaporates and the substances produced when it is burned (carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, and unburned hydrocarbons) contribute to air pollution.
Did You Know?
Burning a gallon of gasoline produces about 19 pounds of carbon dioxide.
In 2007, total U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from gasoline combustion were about 1,180 million metric tons, about 20% of total U.S. carbon dioxide emissions.
Laws Such as the Clean Air Act Reduce Environmental Impact
Americans use about 380 million gallons of gasoline every day. Reducing pollution from gasoline has been a focus of environmental laws in the United States.
The Clean Air Act is the major law aimed at reducing air pollution. The Clean Air Act (first passed in 1970) and its amendments have aimed to reduce pollution from driving by requiring both cleaner cars and cleaner fuels (gasoline and diesel). The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) put these goals into action by requiring the following:
- Removal of leaded gasoline — Leaded gasoline was officially banned in 1996 as a result of the Clean Air Act. Lead from gasoline proved to be a public health concern. The move away from leaded gasoline originally began in 1976 when catalytic converters were installed in new vehicles to reduce the emission of toxic air pollutants. Vehicles equipped with a catalytic converter cannot operate on leaded gasoline; the presence of lead in the fuel damages the catalytic converter.
- Reformulated gasoline — The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 required the sale of a cleaner reformulated gasoline beginning in 1995 to reduce air pollution in certain metropolitan areas with the worst ground-level ozone pollution.
- Low sulfur gasoline — Beginning in 2006, refiners are now required to supply gasoline containing much less sulfur levels than in the past, reducing the sulfur levels in gasoline by 90%. Cutting the sulfur in gasoline reduces emissions from both old and new vehicles alike. In addition, the Clean Air Act requires all new cars to have new pollution control devices, which cannot work properly with higher sulfur fuels.
- Reduced risk of gasoline leaks — Gasoline leaks happen at gas stations every day. As we fill up our gas tanks, gasoline drips from the nozzle onto the ground and vapors leak from the open gas tank into the air. Gasoline leaks can also happen where we can’t see them in pipelines or underground storage tanks. Beginning in 1990, all buried tanks are supposed to be replaced by tanks with a double lining as an additional safeguard for preventing leaks.
In some places where gasoline leaked from storage tanks, one of the gasoline ingredients called methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) made its way into local water supplies. Since MTBE made water taste bad and many people were worried about drinking it, a number of States banned the use of MTBE in gasoline, and the refining industry voluntarily moved away from using it when blending reformulated gasoline.
1. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Climate Change State of Knowledge.